Is SEO worth it? What to expect from SEO in 2024

SEO is considered one of the most critical contact points between companies and consumers on the Internet. So when it comes to the question: Is SEO worth it? With over 10 billion desktop search queries per year in the U.S. and a turnover of nearly $147 billion for advertising through its various solutions, SEO stands as a digital goldmine for businesses. However, it only works best with the right strategy.

WHAT IS SEO?

SEO is a shortcut for Search Engine Optimization. It's a continuous process that focuses on improving a website's visibility to show up organically on the first page when someone enters a search query on a topic related to your content.

The process involves conducting multiple tasks to optimize different key areas in SEO: On-page, Technicality, and Off-page

• Technical: The phase responsible for enhancing the website’s structure, page speed, and mobile friendliness, and linking relevant pages on the website together to make it easier for Google to crawl the website and understand its content better?

• On-page: The content of the website and everything that can be optimized within its pages, URL, H1 tag, Title, Meta description, images, and videos. The goal of On-page is to Provide high-quality content that matches what the searchers are looking for, effective keyword research plays an important role in achieving this goal.
• Off-page: Unlike the previous area mentioned, Off-page SEO is everything that can be optimized outside of the website to look more authoritative and trustworthy for search engines., getting other websites with relevant topics to link back to your website, and creating a social media presence for your business to improve brand signals.

It's vital to consider each one of these aspects in your SEO efforts. A good SEO practitioner knows how to prioritize each area based on its importance for the website structure and marketing objective.?

3 VITAL QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER BEFORE SEO

SEO can be advantageous and beneficial for your organization, but is it really worth it? The answer to this relies on several aspects of your business that you might need to consider.

1. What is Your Objective With SEO? Doing SEO with no objective is like fishing without lures, you can spend a generous amount of time unable to find your catch. Before doing any SEO work you need to have a target, a goal you want to achieve, so you can select the right strategies and keywords to achieve it.
2. Is Search Engine the Right Platform for Your Business?Common question you need to ask yourself before doing SEO, is search engine the right place to find your target audience? Users are rapidly switching through different platforms trying to find the product or service they desire. It's important to ask yourself first if users are searching for terms related to your niche or industry on search engines. Some examples to help you understand better:?B2B Services: Some business-to-business (B2B) services that are highly specialized and tailored to specific industries with limited clientele may not have high search engine demand.Exclusive Membership Clubs: Services that are exclusive and targeted towards a selected group of individuals, such as private membership clubs or high-end concierge services, can perform better on social media than on search engines.
3. What is Your Current Performance on the Search Engine Result Pages check how your website performs on the search engine results, especially the first page. If you’re not ranking for any placement on the first page, you’re giving away the opportunity to acquire a decent percentage of your target audience, so it might be time to do some SEO for your website.?Here are some of the tools you can use to monitor your performance and position on the SERPs:

• Google Search Console (GSC)
• SEMrush
• Google Analytics
• Moz
• Ahrefs

WHAT TO EXPECT FROM APPLYING SEO IN 2024

Applying SEO to your company does not guarantee immediate results like paid advertisements. It's a continuous procedure that takes time and effort, but the payoff can be substantial.?Here are some of the outcomes you can expect from applying SEO to your business.

Higher Organic traffic

A good SEO application can greatly increase the number of new visitors to your site. However, traffic alone isn’t enough. It is your role to convert this traffic into leads by creating beneficial, high-quality on-page content while ensuring that there’s a call to action within the content.

Authority, Recognition, and Credibility

Approximately, over 80,000 search queries are processed by Google every second which is about 8.5 Billion searches per day. However, 93.7% of the clicks go to the first result page while only 6.7% go to the second.

Being on the first page not only brings you traffic but also boosts the awareness and recognition of your brand among users and creates a credible and authoritative image of your business in the minds of your audience.

SEO is Cost-effective

What makes SEO worth it, is its absolute domination in cost-effective marketing.?The table below shows the estimated costs of different marketing channels.

Ultimately, A well-established SEO strategy will certainly bring a far greater ROI than other marketing channels.

5 BEST SEO TRENDS TO LOOK FOR IN 2024

The storm of AI-generated content was very remarkable in the past couple of years, as it allowed content creators to produce a significant amount of content with fewer resources. Therefore Google has decided to make things right, and give those who strive to create the highest quality content the upper hand in the search engine rankings.?

In 2024, SEO is shifting toward a User-Centric approach. Encouraging ethically generated content that covers its (E-E-A-T) guidelines, Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness.

Here are 5 crucial trends to follow that will help align your content with Google standards in 2024 and significantly boost your website’s ranking:

1. Topical Authority Previously, Domain Authority was your primary way of getting Google to trust you as an authoritative website, which was difficult for newly built websites. Thankfully, that’s no longer the case.?Despite your website’s age, you can still look authoritative and trustworthy to Google by having Topical Authority, which involves being focused and authoritative with your content on a specific subject where all related topics are covered comprehensively.
2. Searcher’s IntentSearch intent is the true purpose or intention of a search query made by someone, describing what they are trying to achieve through this search. For example, A person searches for “what to wear for running” This type of keyword intention is called “informational” And the user is at a stage called “Problem aware” meaning that they are conscious and aware of the problem which is “not knowing what to wear for "running” The proper approach in this case, is to give the user the information they desire through a blog post or any informational piece of content about the solution “Running shoes” Search engines like Google focus on providing users with relevant and accurate search results. Understanding the concept of search intent will allow you to meet this criteria, and increase your ability to rank on Google.
3. Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)Answer Engine Optimization is a subdivision of SEO and has become one of the rising trends after the success of Voice search and AI Assistants.? The goal of AEO is to address the users’ queries directly by providing concise and straightforward answers that are easy to read and crawlable for AI assistants. These answers can take place in the form of FAQ pages, Featured Snippets, Voice responses, Tables, and Listicles.?Incorporating AEO within your strategy can boost your credibility as a brand, and make your content more valuable, Which will have readers stay longer on your page, and decrease your bounce rate.
4. Video SEO The high consumption of online video content has raised the bar for SEO. Search engines like Google are aware of the situation and they are heavily encouraging websites to include video content on some of their pages for better ranking results. Creating video content enhances your search engine ranking and enables you to promote your brand's products or services more effectively.The Statistics report of Video Marketing in 2024 Indicates the following: Video content has helped 87% of marketers to increase their sales82% of people have been convinced to buy a product or service by watching a video.It is because through video content you have more flexibility in expressing what you are offering, illustrations and short demonstrational clips of the product can make it easier for users to understand your offer and the value that comes with it.
5. Zero Click Search provides information with context directly from the SERP without having to browse through multiple pages. This trend has become increasingly vital as search engines evolve to provide more immediate and concise answers to user queries. With the rise of Featured Snippets, Knowledge Panels, and Voice Search.?Creating accurate, informative snippets and structuring content for better extraction by search engines, will help businesses take advantage of this trend and improve their visibility on the SERPs.

Key Takeaways

1. SEO's Continued Importance: SEO remains a crucial aspect of online visibility and marketing, highlighted by its influence on connecting businesses with consumers online.
2. Three Pillars of SEO: Understanding and optimizing technical, on-page, and off-page aspects of SEO are essential for a successful strategy, emphasizing the importance of holistic optimization.
3. Pre-SEO Considerations: Before diving into SEO efforts, it's vital to clarify objectives, assess platform suitability, and evaluate current search engine performance to ensure alignment with business goals.
4. Expected Outcomes of SEO: While SEO requires time and effort, the potential benefits include increased organic traffic, enhanced brand authority, recognition, and credibility, all within a cost-effective marketing framework.
5. Emerging Trends for 2024: SEO trends are evolving towards a user-centric approach, emphasizing quality content aligned with Google's E-A-T guidelines, alongside trends like topical authority, searcher intent optimization, AEO, video SEO, and zero-click search optimization. These trends reflect Google's focus on providing valuable, relevant, and easily accessible content to users.

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